The key to personal productivity is simplicity.

The rise of GenAI has had a transformative impact on people’s view of productivity. More and more people are worried about keeping their job, and looking to boost their pr – experimenting to see where and how they work best, and how they can optimize their time.

It is no surprise, then, that the keyword searches like ‘how to be productive’ and ‘how to be productive at home’ peaked at the onset of the pandemic, and, while they’ve been on a decline recently, the global search volumes are still higher overall than the pre-pandemic levels. While the term ‘productivity’ originates from product, or production, in other words, output per input, people are growing interested in optimizing non-work parts of their lives as well.

You want to be productive… now what?

So, let’s say that you do want to become more productive. Most people do one (or more) of the following:

• Watch YouTube videos about it
• Read blogs
• Buy some self-help books to get them through the slump
• Subscribe to newsletters
• Browse r/productivity
• Try out numerous apps that productivity bros swear by

More likely than not, the productivity advice doesn’t end up working for you. And so the search begins once again.

This productivity journey becomes a circle-jerk, closer to an obsession than motivation. There is actually a term for the obsession with self-improvement – “productivity porn”. Just like porn distorts your view of sex, productivity porn gives you unrealistic expectations of productive work.

Why it doesn’t work… most of the time

The reason why productivity tips often don’t work is because they’re adding new steps into your life.

For example, while bullet journaling (or regular journaling) is nice, most working people nowadays will find it tedious. Not because there’s something wrong with the method, but because it introduces extra things to do. It’s the same with meditation, waking up at 5AM, Notion or any other cool new “life hack”. They add to your workload with the premise of cutting it down.

While successful people like Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos do read a lot of books and have talked about extra ‘steps’ for their productivity, they also have the privilege of delegating most of their workload to other people.

So what should you do?

The most productive people I know have extremely simple and streamlined productivity systems. Here are two examples of people I know who are very successful:

Something that both of these individuals have in common is that they don’t think about the tools. The tools themselves could’ve been replaced by a roll of toilet paper and these people would still be just as productive.

The reason why the trader can focus on trading, and the teacher can focus on teaching, is because they know with 100% certainty that whatever note they wrote down is going to be in that one spot. Therefore they can use their energy in actual productive endeavors.

Of course, just because I personally don’t know any successful people who use complex productivity systems doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

But my point is that, for most of us average Joes, simple, one-step systems are enough. This is because adding complexity to the productivity system gives you more stuff to think about, and keep track of. Did you write that in Notion? Notability? Calendar app? To-Do list? Bear? Evernote? It’s simply way too much.

Digital minimalism and productivity

This brings me to the topic of digital minimalism, which is the practice of using technology more mindfully, so that it supports things we truly care about while missing out on the rest.

I believe this concept goes hand in hand with productivity.

Try this 30 day challenge

I challenge you to give up every non-essential productivity tool but one (non-essential means you wouldn’t get in trouble at your job, i.e. not being able to join work meetings).

• Pick a to-do app, or a notebook, or a calendar, or anything else you prefer.
• Use only that tool for 30 days.
• Unsubscribe from all productivity-related channels, newsletters or forums you frequent.
• After the 30 days, reflect on the experience: What was the impact? Did your productivity suffer?

If you managed to do 80% or more of your planning and work with that single tool, don’t add anything else. Learn to appreciate the work that you do, and get comfortable with missing out on the shiniest new technologies that, I promise you, are not as innovative as they’d like to believe.

Final thoughts

This chase after productivity is something I’ve struggled with over the course of my life.

When I was a teenager, a student, and at my very first job, I was always looking for the best way to streamline my workflow.

More recently, I’ve realized that no amount of productivity apps are going to solve depression, anxiety, procrastination, or just plain laziness.

The best way to approach work is to choose one thing and stop exposing yourself to various online channels that make you feel insecure or feed your FOMO. Accountability is everything.

Good luck, I believe in you!